Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Apostles of Christ
1 You should think of us as
Christ's servants, who have
been put in charge of God's secret
truths.
2 The one thing required of
such a servant is that he be faithful
to his master.
3 Now, I am not at all
concerned about being judged by
you or by any human standard; I
don't even pass judgment on myself.
4 My conscience is clear, but that
does not prove that I am really innocent.
The Lord is the one who passes
judgment on me. note
5 So you should not
pass judgment on anyone before the
right time comes. Final judgment
must wait until the Lord comes; he
will bring to light the dark secrets
and expose the hidden purposes of
people's minds. And then everyone
will receive from God the praise he
deserves.
6 For your sake, my brothers, I
have applied all this to Apollos and
me, using the two of us as an example,
so that you may learn what the
saying means, “Observe the proper
rules.” None of you should be proud
of one person and despise another.
7 Who made you superior to others?
Didn't God give you everything you
have? Well, then, how can you
boast, as if what you have were not
a gift?
8 Do you already have everything
you need? Are you already rich?
Have you become kings, even
though we are not? Well, I wish you
really were kings, so that we could
be kings together with you.
9 For it
seems to me that God has given the
very last place to us apostles, like
-- --
men condemned to die in public as a
spectacle for the whole world of angels
and of mankind.
10 For Christ's
sake we are fools; but you are wise
in union with Christ! We are weak,
but you are strong! We are despised,
but you are honored!
11 To this very
moment we go hungry and thirsty;
we are clothed in rags; we are
beaten; we wander from place to
place;
12 we wear ourselves out with
hard work. When we are cursed, we
bless; when we are persecuted,
we endure; note
13 when we are insulted,
we answer back with kind words.
We are no more than this world's
garbage; we are the scum of the
earth to this very moment!
14 I write this to you, not because I
want to make you feel ashamed, but
to instruct you as my own dear children.
15 For even if you have ten
thousand guardians in your Christian
life, you have only one father.
For in your life in union with Christ
Jesus I have become your father by
bringing the Good News to you.
16 I
beg you, then, to follow my example. note
17 For this purpose I am sending to
you Timothy, who is my own dear
and faithful son in the Christian life.
He will remind you of the principles
which I follow in the new life in
union with Christ Jesus and which I
teach in all the churches everywhere.
18 Some of you have become proud
because you have thought that I
would not be coming to visit you.
19 If the Lord is willing, however, I
will come to you soon, and then I
will find out for myself the power
which these proud people have, and
not just what they say.
20 For the
Kingdom of God is not a matter
of words but of power.
21 Which do
you prefer? Shall I come to you
with a whip, or in a spirit of love and
gentleness?
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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